Method of making worsted yarns.



No. 874,714. PATBNTED DEO. 24, 1907.

v. s. WESTOOTT O T. W. POTTER.

METHOD OT` MAKING WORSTBO YARNS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 14.1906;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4%.; ATTORNEYS.

' UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE."

' VALORUS S. WESTCOTT, OF PAWTUCKET, AND FRANK W. POTTER, OF CENTRAL FAILS,

RHODE ISLAND.

mamonor MAKING wons'rnn ramas. f

Specification of Letters Patent.

'rat'etea nec. 24, 1907.

Application led November 14 1906. Serial No. 343,410.

To all whom it 'may concern: i Be it known that we, VALoRUs S. WEST- coTT and FRANK W. POTTER, citizens of the invented a certain new and useful Method of Making Worsted Yarns, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture ofworsted and kindred yarns the aim of themanufacturer is to produce a yarn of uniform weight for a given unit of length. These yarns are known to the trade by numbers, a given number meaning so many yards per pound on which basis they are sold. It 1s of interest, therefore, that when selling or buying upon-a specied order the manufacturer supplies what is called for and the urchaser obtains that for which he pays. ccording to resent wool processes the manufacturer fa ls short of accomplishing his aim with the result, from a commercial standpoint, that a loss is entailed either upon one side or the other. For example, if what is known as 36s is ordered which sells at a given price per pound, a'lthough the manufacturer' ostensibly may supply that weight, the order is apt to include a lighter or heavier weight; if the former, the loss is upon the manufacturer, and, if the latter, upon the purchaser. This matter assumes additional importance from the fact that a mill manufacturing woven cloths desires that its products shall be what they purport to be in weight, and that a v fabric of 86s, for example, should be of that weight of yarn and not lighter or heavier. When it is considered that a single mill may order ten thousand pounds, or more, a week, the difference in money value one way or the other aggregates a very large amount. The reason for this variation in weight of a given standard of worsted yarn is due to the fact that at present dependence is placed upon the skill of an operator to average the slivers as they pass through the gilling process. Such method followed by two different operators will not be the same within a wide` range. However skilful the operator may be it is practically impossible to deliver to the drawing frames a sllver of uniform weight per unit of length, and consequently the final spun yarn will vary in weight. According to the present invention this guess work method of averaging slivers iseliminated and in place thereof we introduce into the process a sliverevening mechanism between the usual combing and drawing operations. So far as we are aware no attempt has heretofore been made to introduce such step in wool processes. The basis of perfect wool spinning is a perfectly uniform material upon `which to work, and every step taken toward the production of such material tends to an advance in the art and is of vast commercial importance. In order to fully appreciate our invention and its relation to the manufacture of worsted yarns it will be advisable to refer briefly to the nature of the raw material and the present day processes through which wool is put preparatory to the drawing and spinning,

The wool fiber is a tube built up of layer Iupon layer of scales, the number of scales bearing a' fairly. direct relation to the fineness of the fiber. No other textile industry has to deal with a raw material so sensitive and so easily injured, wool fiber being more sensitive and much sooner injured than any of the vegetable fibers as cotton or flax, and the tendency should be to maintain its natural softness, strength and elasticity unimpaired. Wool is commonly characterized by its ne, soft, curly nature, the curliness being due to the spiral structure of the filaments and is one of its ,recognized and important characteristics. Another valuab e characteristic of wool is its elasticity which gives it a softness to the touch which is retained in the manufactured goods. Closely related to this is the strength of the iiber, wool fiber being fully one-fourth stronger than cotton.

The three main classes of wool on the basis of the staple are (l) carding or clothing wools in which felting qualities are desired, (2) combing wools in which length of staple is required and felting qualities not deslred, used Afor hard spun non-felting worsteds, and (3) miscellaneous, sometimes called carpet or blanket wools, long, strong, coarse wools used for carpets, blankets and coarse clothing. y

The present invention primarilyl relates to the production of worsted yarns. `The first operation in the series of processes is the sorting of the wool in which the exigencies ofthe manufacture determine the mode to be followed. After this comes the scouring, the purpose of which .is to cleanse the wool of its yolk, natural grease and dirt. Much depends upon this as without proper scouring of the wool it is impossible to card it properly as the wool will not open freely.

' The wool is then passed. through a drier :ber from fiber and to present it in aperfectly loose and thoroughly open condltion without leaning towards any artificial arrangement. Owing. to the want of mechanism to distribute or equalize any inequality due to afault' in the carding, such operation assumed great4 importance in the woolen industry. In fact, in no other textile Aindustry is the carding of the same importance and required to be done so uniformly'as it is in the wool, and in no other industry has any irregularityv such disastrous consex quences. When the carded wool is made into a thick sliver there is no artificial arrangement' of the fibers and the -ends are i loosely embedded in the`bulk.

From the cards the sliver passes throu h condensing rolls and is wound into a bal. About eight or more of these balls are then put through a washing process to remove the oil with .which the wool was dam ed reparatory to carding, the wool after ry. ing being passed through condensing rolls and emerging in the form of a single sliver. The slivers from the back washing are in some mills run through a gill box before being balled for the combing machine. About twenty of these balls are then placed on the combing machine, the flat webs passing through the combs are drawn in a single sliver which is wound into a ball or run into a can. The purpose of the combing is to remove noil and dirt and isthe final cleaning ,operation preparatory'to gilling.

The prelimlnary operations above noted up to the combing are common to all manufacturers, but at that point the two branches of wool manufacture se arate. making woolen yarns thefwoo is simply carded and loosely spun; in making worsted yarns the wool is combed, gilled, drawn, and

twisted until it becomes very hard. In making woolen yarns a short stapled wool may be .used and a fiber having good felting qualities is preferredf The opposite char-4 acteristics are sought in'wool to be used 1n the manufacture of worsted.

In the production of worsted yarns the etarra y first operation after combing is that of gillingthe object ofwwhich lay them parallel. The machineby which this is accomplished consists of a air of feed rolls which catch the wool, and) a4 pair of is to level the fibers and drawing rolls v*which draw it forward over steel bars, called fallers, coveredwith projecting steel pins. These machines are erally used in sets, each successive mac e having pins on the fallers finer and more closely set than the preceding In operation there is a stead and constant draWin of the wool away om the feed rolls and 'through the teeth of the fallers. The product from each gill box is condensed into a sliver which is received in cans or rolled into a ball. After the combed material has been gilled it is put through the drawing frames,

.and then spun. The spuny yarn is rolled,

warped, beamed, sized or otherwise prepared for weaving.

As compared with the foregoing, cotton` processes involve merely the o eration of picking, carding, drawing, slubbmg, roving and spinning. In wool processes" wholly different conditions obtain not only4 in the characteristics of the fibers, but in the operations preliminary to drawing and spinning. The tangled masses of Wool received in the grease and passing through several washings before combing` presents conditionsnot met with in the treatment of cotton. In the latter the material is in practically dry, floccu' lent masses the fibers of which readily lend themselves to the parallelizing action of the cards, the resulting slivers passing immedin ately 'to the drawing frames, or preparatory thereto through an evening mechanism. With wool, on the contrary, the manufacturer has to deal with more or less moist, compact, tangled masses which are delivered to the cards and emerge therefrom in a sliver having no artificial arrangement of the fibers and must pass through several elaborate opera-tions of combing and giiling preparatory to drawing. So far as we are aware, it has not been considered feasible, at least no attempt has been made, to reduce the wool slivers between the combing and'drawing o erations to a uniform weight, except by t e guess work method before referred to of averaging by hand the slivers as they pass through one of the gill boxes. Such method is unsatisfactory and wholly unproductive of the desired result. The desirability of an evener mechanism in worsted processes has long been felt and Awe 'believe that by the mach.' e herein described that want has been met as it is well adapted to the peculiar conditions obtainingin such processes.

We will now describe by reference to the accompanying drawings t e relation of the evener mechanism to the other parts of a mill and particularly its relation to one of the gill boxes.

iis

'more or less diagrammatic mannerseveral In the drawings Figure 1 illustrates-in a ofthe machinesemployed in a mill for the 4production of worsted yarns, a sufficient ofv Fig 2.

number of these machines being shown tol explain theplace occupied by the sliver evener in t-he series ofeoperations; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section partly broken away through a combined sliver evener and gill box on the plane of the line 2 2 of Fig. 3; and Fig; 3 is an end elevation of said machine looking in the direction of the arrow Similar -reference numerals indicate similar arts in the several views.

. e several machines-illustrated in Fig. 1 areof known construction except the combined sliver evener and gill box and, therefore, only the latter will be speciiicall de-I scribed, so faras may be required, it eing understood thatV the particular types of machines illustrated are selected solely for descriptive purposes. Referring then to Fig. 1 the numeral 1 designates a traveling dat carding engine through which the wool passes in a thin, gauze-like web which is a trumpet and condensing in no -particular or artificial arrangement. This sliver is balled and after the back washing, the wool passes through a combing machine 2 to remove noil and dirt, and insome` cases through a gilling and balling operation preparatory to combing. The sliversfrom the combing machine are then assed through several crossings and redrawings-in gill boxes in order to lay the fibers parallel, and by running several ends into oneto reduce as much as possible the thick and thin places to produce-a level yarn.

efore referred to four gill boxes lare employed through which the slivers are passed as r follows. About .thirty ends from the combing machine are drawn through a double-can gill box. Eight or ten ends from the first gill box are thendrawn through a ball gill box, the resulting single sliver being rolled into a cylindrical ball about nine inches across. From eight to ten ends from this latter gill box are then run into one through what is termed a double-can gill weigh box. It is at this point that the operator by introducing a greater or less number of ends, and by close attention to the slivers with respect to thick and thin places, at-

tempts the production of a sliver whichv shall approximate toward some degree of uni# formity in weight. .Experience is the only guide and at best it is mere guess work and wholly unsatisfactory, it being impossible by such method to produce a sliver, and consequently a yarn, of uniform weight. The results are shown by variation in a yarn of glifven count of anywhere between five and teen per cent. in weight.

In the mill The slivers from the third gill-box are re ceived=incans-which`are weighed and two or' more ends therefrom, approximating the same weight, are run into one through a-twospindle gill-box. vThe slivers from thislast gill box are wound on spools which supplyl the drawing frames, the number. of drawing operations depending upon the count of yarn' required. From the drawing frames they rovings go to the spinning .frames for the final operation in the production of the yarn.

By the introduction of a sliver evener. mech-A anism intothis series of operations the averaging of the slivers as they are run through one of the gill boxesby the operator lis--done away with. Instead ofdepending upon. experience as aE guide with its attendant: u nsatisfactoryresults we are enabled to=pro duce a sliver for the drawing frames'whichis substantially uniform in weight for a unit of length. Owing tothe nature of the combing and drawing operations the evening'of the slivermustbe eected between the two, and we have illustrated the evener mechan-4 ism as between the first and second gill box, and for convenience of operation have atY tached it to the latter. This, however, is notV absolutely essential as the evener mechanism may beseparatel mounted. Itfis of advantage to `locate tlie evener before the double-can gill weigh-box forthe reason .that the operator on that machine is enabled'to supply it' with a given number of slivers, and

as each individual sliver is of substantially .uniform weight the resultant sliver from the last-named machine will be of uniform" weight. With this arrangement the-first or double-can gill box designated by the numeral 3 the double-can gill weigh-box 5; the two-spindle gill box 6; and the drawing frames 7 remain as heretofore both'as to construction and relative positions. The combined sliver evener and ball gill box 4 which assumes theposition of the ball gill box heretofore used will now be described.

In a companion application filed. of even date herewith Serial No. 343 ,411 we have described the combined evener mechanism and ball gill box in detail. The present application relating only to the method of making worsted yarns, we do not deem it' necessary to more than illustrate a part of the said machine as it is given only for the pur ose of calling attention to what has been one in practice.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2

and 3 the numeral 8 designates the frame of the machine. At the back thereof is an evener roll 9 and drawing rolls 10 and 11 supported in suitable bearings. These rolls are geared together and the evener roll connected with the driven member of any suitable form of variable speed motion through a shaft 12.

Said shaftI carries a bevel gear 13 meshing with a similar gear 13 on the shaft'of which the shaft. of the lower roll 10. On the oppois keyed a s ur gear 14. The latter through an interme iate15 is connected to a gear 16 on the shaft of the evener roll 9. On the opposite end of said shaft is keyed a spur gear 17 which through an intermediate is connected to a'gear, not shown, keyed on one end of site endof said latter shaft is a gear 18 W through the intermediate 18 is connected to the gear 18 on the `shaft of the lower roll 1 1. The evener roll 9 is provided with a series of peripheral grooves 19 adapted to receive without binding upon the side Walls thereof a' corres onding number of detector disks 20 revolu ly supported on studs carried by yokes 21. These yokes carry upwardly eX- tending rods having a knife edge upon which saddles 22 are supported, the latter in turn supporting the upper saddle 23 which is in engagement, through an intermediate knife edge 24, with the under side of a lever 25. These parts are so constructed and adjusted that in the absence of a sliver a given disk 20 will rest upon the bottom of its groove 19 of the evener roll, and when a sliver is .passing through the evener roll any variation thereof from a normal weight will be indicated by the rising and falling movements of the disks 20, such movements being communicated to lever 25 through the system just described. Lever 25 is fulcrumed on a knife edge 26 carried by a stirru attached to a bracket of the frame, and is'ba anced by an adjustable weight 27. The outer end of the long arm of lever 25 is adaptedto support adjustably therein a vertical rod 28 which is connected to a friction wheel, not shown, of the variable speed motion, the osition of said wheel Adetermining the spee of the driven member which in turn determines the speed 'of rotation of the evener roll 9 and drawing rolls 10 and 11. f The screw gill box, through which the slivers are-passed as they leave the drawing rolls 10and 11, com rises two sets of drawing rolls 29 and 30 whiclfl are driven at constant rates of s eed. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the shaft of t e lower one of the front drawing rolls 30 is connected through a belt 31 withthe power shaft. 0n the opposite endof the shaft of said roll is a spur gear, not shown, which is connected through the intermediate gears 32 with a gear 33 keyed on the shaft of the lower one of the rolls 29, these gears being so related that the rolls 30 are driven at a s eed abc'ut ive times as great as that of the ro ls 29.- The drawing rolls 10, 11, 29 and 30 have their surfaces corrugated, and between the front rolls 30 is passed an endless apron 34 of soft leather.

The fallers 35 are of the usual t. e and are moved forward and backward y screws driven through a suitable train of gears. The drawings show one of two gears 36 keyed on opposite ends of the shaft of the lower roll 30 and these are connected through intermediates 36 to spur gears 37 on the shafts of the lower screws 38. The upper screws 39 are driven through gears 40 meshing with the gears 37.

The slivers as they pass through the drawing rolls are spread into a ractically continuons web, and after passing through the drawing rolls 30 this web is gathered by a trum et 41 into a sliver which is rolled into a cylin rical shaped ball 42 at the front of the machine. The issuing sliver is wound on a spindle 43 having bearings in blocks seated in guides 44. The ball rests upon corrugated rolls 45 revolubly mounted in a carriage which is reci rocated transversely ofthe machine throng a crank disk 46, the latter being rotated through a train of gears 47 driven from the lower of the rolls 30 by a chain 47 or other connection.

When a sliver evener is used in the connection above described the evenerroll 9 willbe provided with four grooves each adapted to receive and unite two or more ends into one, the balled sliver being the result of the union of the eight or more ends received from the double-can ill boX. The slivers from the latter, one o which, desi nated 48 is shown, are fed from the cans an delivered through suitable guides to the grooves of the evener roll. 'lhey pass thence through the drawing rolls 10, 11 and 29, fallers 35 and front drawing rolls 30 to the balling mechanism. As the slivers pass through the evener roll they are confined on all sides, that is between the bottom and side walls of the ooves of said roll7 and the detectors. The atter bear directly upon the slivers and being yieldingly mounted in a plane transverse to the plane of fixed confinement it follows that the de tectors will res ond instantly to any variation in the weight of the corresponding sliver, whether that'variation is in a vertical or a transverse direction. The several parts of the machine described are adjusted primarily for a sliver of normal weight so that an increase above or a decrease below the normal will effect a rising or fallin movement of the corresponding detector dis the result being to automatically lessen the speed ofthe rolls 9, 10 and 11 if the sliver increases in weight, thereby permitting the uniformly rotatin rolls 29 to draw the sliver down to norma weight. lf there is a decrease below the normal when the sliver enters the evener roll the speed of said roll and of the drawing rolls 10 and 11 will be automatically increased above that of the rolls 29, so that the amount or weight of material entering the rolls 29 is substantially uniform under all conditions. The sliver which is rolled into the ball 42 is, therefore, of substantially uniform weight for a given unit of length, and if the doublecan gill weigh-box is to be retained by reason of the necessity for another illing operation, the operator is merely ca ed upon to keep that machine supplied with the necessary number of ends, being relieved entirely of the Work of averaging the slivers. It follows that the drawing frames will be su plied with spools from the two-spindle gig box carrying a uniform sliver, and that'the rovings from t'he drawing frames will be of like character as to weight for a given count of yarn. The commercial importance of this has been pointed out and can hardly be overestimated.

In the foregoing descri tion we have assumed the retention in t e process of the third gill bex, but in practice this may well be omitted, thus effecting a further saving of time and labor. This is because of the drawing of the slivers in the evener mechanism by the back rolls 10 and 11, the relation of these rolls and the evener roll to the rolls 29 being such that there is a draft of three, that is a given unit of length of sliver entering the evener roll is drawn to three times that length upon entering the rolls 29. While we have aid special attention to the evening of the s ver this drawing by the rolls 10 and 11 is of im ortance although relatively secondary. Xs it in a manner supplements the arallelizing action of the`ball gill box, the ouble-can gill weigh-box may be omitted and the slivers taken directly rom the ball gill box to the two-spindle gill The term worsted yarn as used herein is intended to cover Vnot only a yarn made from the wool of the shee but mohair and kindred yarns requiring a 'ke treatment preparatory to the s inning o eration. Also we do not wish to e limite to any specific details of mechanism employed in evening the yarn, that illustrated being given solely for the purpose of descri tion.

While we have descri ed the entire o eration of producing a worsted yarn and ave laid stress upon the commercial importance of roducing a yarn of uniform weight for.

a given unit of length, and have illustrated in .the drawings an entire mlll, or such parts of Letters Patent is 1. The herein described process for the production of Worsted yarns comprising the evening of the sliver preparatory to drawing and spmnin i 2. The method of producing a yarn of Wool of substantially uniform weight for a given unit of length comprising the, automatic evening of the sliver preparatory to the drawing o eration.

3. The erein described yarn process comprising the usual carding, combing, gilling,

drawing and spinning operations, and an 1ntermediate process connected 'therewith for evening the sliver'to a substantially uniform weight for a given unit of length.

ll.` The herein described yarn rocess comprising the usual carding, com ing,lgill1ng, drawing and spinning operations, and as a step intermediate the combing and drawing automatically evening the sliver to a substantially uniform weight for a given unit of length.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

-VALORUS S. WESTCOTT. FRANK W. POTTER. Witnesses:

CHAs. H. HYDE, FRANCIS H. WASHBUBN. 

